


Guilty Until Proven Innocent

by purpleknightofxerxxes



Category: Storm Hawks (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purpleknightofxerxxes/pseuds/purpleknightofxerxxes
Summary: After a peace treaty is signed between the Sky Knights and the Cyclonians, and each side is pardoned for their actions during the war, the Dark Ace is arrested for the murder of a young girl. Aerrow knows he didn't do it, but faces a dilemma when he has to choose between seeing his enemy behind bars, or finding the real killer and letting the Dark Ace walk free. (Violence might not get that graphic but tagged to be on the safe side).
Kudos: 9





	1. Alibi

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: set six years after the show (obviously ignoring the end of season 2 for the sake of me not having to think too hard about a way around that)

‘Aerrow, are you seeing this?’  
Piper’s voice interrupted his train of thought and he looked up from the book he wasn’t reading. He was met by the glaring red eyes of the Dark Ace on the screen in front of him. ‘Wait, what?’  
‘… _and reports are coming in of the arrest of the Dark Ace, notorious Cyclonian commander, after the murder of a twelve-year-old girl three days ago. The young girl’s body was found on Terra Atmosia and several witnesses have placed the Dark Ace near the crime scene around the presumed time of death …_ ’  
‘God,’ said Piper. ‘I don’t believe it. What a mess.’  
Aerrow gaped at the screen. ‘Yeah.’ His brow furrowed as he leant forwards.  
‘… _it appears that the Dark Ace has breached the conditions of the treaty signed between the Cyclonians and the Sky Knight Council, and will be given no protection from Master Cyclonis from the consequences of this crime. More on this later as we receive new updates. Now, on a lighter note …_ ’  
‘I don’t believe it,’ Piper repeated.  
The door opened, and Finn and Junko, looking disturbed, entered through it.  
‘You’ve been watching, then?’ Finn said, nodding towards the screen.  
‘Crazy, right?’ Junko added as he dropped onto the sofa beside them.  
Aerrow crossed his arms, setting his mouth in a hard line.  
‘I don’t know.’ Piper frowned. ‘This doesn’t seem right.’  
‘What do you mean?’ he asked. ‘He’s finally going to pay for something he’s done – what’s not right about that?’  
‘Obviously I want him to face consequences for what he’s done, Aerrow,’ she said. ‘But this just doesn’t seem like the Dark Ace’s style. A twelve-year-old? Why would he do that?’  
‘Why would he betray the old Storm Hawks? Why would he kill all those sky knights? He doesn’t need a reason.’  
Piper, Junko and Finn shared a look.  
‘Dude,’ said Finn, resting a hand on Aerrow’s shoulder. ‘Are you okay? It’s just you’ve seemed kinda … off since the whole, you know, treaty thing.’  
‘I’m fine. It’s just been difficult to get my head around.’  
‘Look, Aerrow, we get it.’ Piper peered at him with concern etched over her face. ‘But when you went missing a few nights back, and came home the next morning a complete mess – well, we’re just worried about you. You’re still a little young to be an alcoholic.’  
Aerrow laughed unconvincingly. ‘Come on, guys. That was one time. I said it wouldn’t happen again and it won’t. Trust me – that night was enough to put me off it.’ His face fell, and he stared down at his feet.  
‘It just feels like you’re not telling us everything,’ Junko ventured. ‘Like Piper said, we’re worried about you. We’ve been talking and we think it would be good if we got away for a few days. Terra Tropica or something.’  
‘We could all do with a vacation to clear our heads.’ Piper smiled. ‘Even Stork’s more jumpy than usual, and that’s saying something.’  
Aerrow thought for a moment. ‘You know what? Yeah, let’s do it.’ He grinned at them. ‘Besides, Finn could use the extra surfing practice.'

He sat in the hangar bay alone, save for Radarr who perched on his shoulder, and watched the sunrise. Dark circles under his eyes betrayed his lack of sleep; he’d been up half the night tinkering with his skimmer. A coping mechanism, Piper would say, if she knew he’d been doing it almost every night. The Condor hung suspended under the curve of a cliff edge, giving him the perfect view of a sky beaming red and gold.  
A bird cry startled him and he watched, incredulous, as a large black crow landed in front of him. A small white scroll had been attached to its leg, and, after a moment’s hesitation, Aerrow untied it. The crow squawked and took off. He watched it fly away from the ship until it disappeared, and then unfurled the scroll.

_Aerrow –_

_We need to talk. You know where to find me._

He stared down at the note.  
‘You’re up early.’  
He glanced behind him, crumpling the paper in his fist. ‘Morning, Stork.’  
‘You alright?’ The Merb approached him, eyeing up the ball of paper. ‘No sudden important missions that might possibly delay the journey to Terra Tropica?’ He sounded hopeful.  
‘Actually, yeah.’  
‘Really?’ His shoulders relaxed a little. Aerrow guessed the last adventure on Terra Tropica hadn’t quite faded from memory.  
‘I’ve got something I need to take care of.’ He sat on his skimmer and revved up the engine. ‘But I’ll be back this evening – tell the others I’m sorry, and that we’ll go tomorrow, will you?’  
Stork shrugged. ‘Take your time.’  
Aerrow nodded and took off. He took in a deep, shaking breath, grit his teeth, and headed towards Terra Atmosia.

‘I told you. I don’t remember. I was drunk.’  
‘Aerrow, you’re a bad liar.’  
He stared down at the man sat in front of him, handcuffed at the wrists and kept at a distance by the table between them. ‘Like that would stop any jury from convicting you.’  
The Dark Ace leant forward, scowling at him. ‘Then why did you come here? To say no to my face? You know I’m innocent.’  
‘Innocent?’ Aerrow spat. ‘Tell that to the countless lives you’ve taken – to the terras and homes you’ve destroyed!’  
‘That was war,’ said the Dark Ace, ‘and I was pardoned.’  
Aerrow laughed bitterly and shook his head. ‘You wanna know why I’m here?’ He placed his hands on the table and looked him in the eye. ‘I came here to see justice take its course. I came here to see you where you belong – handcuffed and behind bars. You think I’d give you an alibi? For what? Sobering me up? Giving me water and watching me throw up isn’t going to cut it. You can rot in here for all I care.’  
He turned on his heel to leave.  
‘I asked you here because I thought you’d do the right thing,’ the Dark Ace called after him. ‘What about the girl?’  
Aerrow hesitated.  
‘Where’s the justice for her?’ the older man continued, his voice low. He knew he’d caught his attention.  
‘How dare you? How dare you throw my own morals in my face! _You_? You have no right.’  
‘It worked, though, didn’t it?’  
‘You bastard.’ Aerrow glared at him. He sighed. ‘Fine. I’ll tell them what happened. But this is for the girl, not you.’  
‘Wouldn’t have thought otherwise.’  
‘You’ll pay for the things you’ve done. One day.’  
The Dark Ace grinned. ‘I don’t doubt it. And I’m sure I’ll see your smug face staring down at me when it happens. But not this time.’  
Aerrow said nothing. He left the cell, seething. His footsteps echoed as he strode down the corridor, and he wondered how he was going to explain this one.


	2. The Hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: although this chapter is predominantly a "court scene", I just want to say that I don't know anything about "court" outside of the films 12 Angry Men and Legally Blonde, and I have taken it upon myself to remain in ignorance due to personal pettiness. My apologies, therefore, if anything is wildly unrealistic, but (with the greatest of respect I can possibly manage) I just can't bring myself to care.

'Dude,' said Finn, 'no wonder you've been acting so shifty.'

' _Finn_ ,' Piper chided. She turned to the sky knight, and her brow furrowed in concern. 'Aerrow, why didn't you just tell us?'

He could not bear to see the disappointment in their faces, so had hung his head as he told them the story. When he answered he spoke to the floor. 'I was ashamed, Piper. Can you imagine? My worst enemy saw me like that - my worst enemy took _care_ of me. I knew that was going to bite me in the ass someday, I just didn't expect it to be so soon.' He finally looked up at them all. 'Guys, I'm so sorry.'

'Come on' said Junko, resting a big hand on his shoulder. 'It's not your fault.'

Aerrow grimaced. 'I don't know about that. I acted like a complete idiot. If I hadn't been so out of it, that little girl -'

'Don't even go there,' Piper cut him off, crossing her arms. 'You couldn't have done anything to help her. That was _nothing_ to do with you.'

He set his mouth in a hard line but conceded with a small shrug. 'What am I supposed to do now? It's like... here's a perfect opportunity to let him finally pay for what he's done.'

'You _can't_ let him go down for this.' Piper sat on the arm of the couch.

'Why not?' Stork chimed in, peering over from his dark corner of the room. 'Let him rot, I say.'

'Be _cause_ -' Piper shot him a disapproving look - 'it's not _right_. Dark Ace didn't do it.'

'So? I'm with Stork,' said Finn. 'Who cares?'

'No, guys, Piper's right.' Junko shook his head, frowning thoughtfully. 'Even if he _does_ deserve to be punished - _we_ know he didn't do it. And if he didn't, well, that means -'

'That someone else did,' Aerrow finished, sighing.

'And we're the good guys, remember?' Junko added. 'We have to do the right thing.'

'Why?' Stork asked bitterly.

'Well said, Junko.' Piper pat him on the shoulder, ignoring Stork's remark.

'The hearing's this weekend. I'll give my testimony,' said Aerrow, 'but that's _it_.' 

* * *

He cleared his throat, uncomfortably aware of all the faces staring up at him. His collar was stiff and itchy, his tie too tight. He felt, as he so often did in the presence of the Sky Knight Council, like a child being scolded. 

‘On the night in question,’ he began, wringing his hands nervously, ‘I was at the Sky’s End Inn on Terra Atmosia. I was… I was intoxicated –’ he heard some disapproving mutters from his audience and stumbled over is words, the heat rising in his face – ‘I saw the Dark Ace at this same inn and I remember feeling angry – angry that he could just show his face out in public like that –’

‘And what time was this?’ the prosecutor interrupted, using a tone that was so laden with boredom it could only have been put on.

Aerrow blinked at him. He’d forgotten he was there. ‘About 10.30 in the evening. There was a clock over the bar.’

The prosecutor gestured for him to continue.

‘Then I – I went over to him. I was angry, like I said, and I wanted to start a fight. He laughed at me and said that there’d be no fun in taking down someone as weak as I was in that state. I was about to throw a punch, but had to run to the restroom instead to –’

‘Those details you may spare us, sky knight,’ the prosecutor said, and was met by a few titters from the audience.

‘Right,’ Aerrow replied, flushing red again. ‘Sorry. The bartender took me up to a room, and had to get the Dark Ace to help.’

‘And you’re sure it was the Dark Ace?’

‘Positive. He was laughing at me and I think he commented once or twice on the irony of the situation.’

‘Do go on.’

‘I was in the bathroom most of the night. He made me drink a glass of water every fifteen minutes or so. At about 5am I remember he put me into the recovery position – he was laughing then as well. I never heard the door open or close; he can’t have left the room at all the whole night – and even if he did, he could only have been gone for less than fifteen minutes. That’s not enough time to get to the other side of town and back. Besides, the estimated time of death was around 11pm to 1am, there’s no way –’

‘Do try not to draw your own conclusions,’ said the prosecutor. ‘Let’s leave that to the jury. Tell me, how much had you drunk before you got to the inn?’

Aerrow thought for a moment, swallowing. ‘Two bottles of wine? I think.’

‘And how old are you?’

‘Eighteen.’

‘Do you often drink, Aerrow?’ The prosecutor began to pace up and down in front of him, and Aerrow tracked his movements with his eyes, drumming the podium distractedly.

‘Not at all. That was the – the first time.’

‘What made that night different?’

‘I’d been feeling stressed, and I thought it might help.’

‘Can you be one hundred percent certain on how much you drank?’

‘Well, not one hundred percent, but –’ he faltered as the prosecutor threw up his hands and shook his head.

‘If you can’t even remember how much you _drank_ that night, then how can we trust your memory of the time? How can we trust your assertion that the Dark Ace never left the room? And, _how_ , ladies and gentlemen –’ here he turned to the jury – ‘can we trust that it was the Dark Ace at all?’

Aerrow gaped at him. ‘It _was_.’

‘But we can’t be sure of that, _can_ we? If no one else can confirm this supposed “alibi”, then how can we believe it? The bartender cannot be sure who helped you that night.’ The prosecutor laughed, shaking his head again. ‘Must we forget _all_ we know about this dangerous man at the whim of a boy who _thinks_ that the Dark Ace sobered him up? Does that sound like the man we all know and have feared?’

‘He _was_ there – you think I wouldn’t know the Dark Ace?’ Aerrow snapped.

‘You were black-out _drunk_! You cannot possible say you are one hundred percent certain.’ The prosecutor leant towards him. ‘Would you stake that young girl’s life on it?’

Aerrow squared his jaw, but saw there was nothing he could say now.

‘I have no further questions.’ The prosecutor flashed him a grin.

* * *

Piper jumped as Aerrow kicked his skimmer and sent it crashing to the floor.

‘Do we even need to ask?’ said Stork, looking disdainfully at the mess. He and Piper had been waiting for his return in the hangar bay.

‘They tore me apart,’ Aerrow said flatly, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘The judge has said likely punishment is banishment to the Wastelands.’

Piper froze. ‘But… that’s a death sentence.’

‘I wanted to see him punished. But not like this… not _that_.’

‘I can’t believe they’d do that,’ she said. ‘It’s – it’s _archaic_.’

‘You’d think Cyclonis would step in,’ Stork mused. ‘He was her right hand man, and they seemed close, once – you’d think that’d be enough to save his life.’

Piper laughed mirthlessly. ‘I think we can assume loyalty means nothing amongst Cyclonians.’ She bit her thumb, frowning. ‘We can’t let this happen, Aerrow.’

‘I know. Not just for the Dark Ace – that young girl; her killer’s still out there.’ He stared out of the hangar bay into the sky beyond. ‘We’re going to find them. We’ll see that justice – _real_ justice – is done.’

* * *

The judge had been right. The Dark Ace was found guilty – surprising nobody – and the sentence passed was banishment to the Wastelands. A brutal punishment for such a brutal crime: no one could deny that if anyone deserved it, it was him. His actions in the prison later that day pointed further to his guilt – attacking the guards, injuring two so drastically they had to be rushed to the hospital. It was decided that he could not be kept in any ordinary prison whilst he awaited his sentence – a week, Aerrow had begged, to find proof of his innocence (for at least this crime), and the Sky Knight Council had reluctantly consented. The Dark Ace, instead, was to be kept under the watchful eye of a sky knight. Starling was the only one who volunteered.


End file.
